97.1/97.7 ESPN Upstate has rebranded as The Fan, dropping ESPN Radio and adding programming from Audacy’s CBS Sports Radio and BetQL networks. The Fan is a common name across Audacy’s sports talkers, and they aren’t generally a big ESPN affiliate so makes sense.
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ESPN Upstate becomes The Fan
- Thread starter 101tm
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It would be helpful to mention these were 1330 AM and 950 AM. Really good signals.
The issue with this station since it started has been that they have no notable sports teams. iHeart has the Tigers on 92.5 and Gamecocks on 104.9. Audacy has the Panthers on 101.1.
The Fan has the Paladins, but that’s minor. They’re going to need some kind of notable team to get anywhere and I doubt many will be happy to sign with two mediocre AM signals and two translators. Plus, it’s not a big sports market unless you include the Clemson area which has 105.5 The Roar. Sports talk is going to be a heavy lift in GSP.
Sprots doesnt take alot time staff or money to run if you dont have a ton of local hosts, and it bills well.
Theres a reason sports is one of the bigger formats on radio.
If companies thought music would bill more and not require more effort, i think.. by now, theyd do it
Theres a reason sports is one of the bigger formats on radio.
If companies thought music would bill more and not require more effort, i think.. by now, theyd do it
Sports normally does well when it’s on a decent signal. IMO a successful sports station needs a pro, major college, some kind of team to serve as the backbone of it and a draw. 104.9 has the Gamecocks. 97.1/97.7 is running a regional non-major college team and a high school team. I don’t think the market can support two sports stations and 104.9 has a leg up right now with USC and the Tigers down the hall on 92.5. Audacy probably couldn’t get the Panthers on a signal less than 101.1, so it’s understandable why they’re there.
Likely scenario is Audacy is doing this for a throw in/package sell with 93.3 and 101.1, maybe 106.3 but I doubt they share a lot of the same advertisers.
Likely scenario is Audacy is doing this for a throw in/package sell with 93.3 and 101.1, maybe 106.3 but I doubt they share a lot of the same advertisers.
Sometimes it not about traditional ratings anymore. For example, one of the local hosts on the former ESPN Upstate posted on Facebook that he had 10,000 downloads of his podcast. 10k? In this market? That's not bad. Sure, I bet The Fan is an add-on to Planet, Classic Rock and Word, but it's a pretty good value added buy.
And remember, sports talk has a very loyal and specific demo for advertisers. I think the station will do fine even up against the new iHeart one. And the Roar from Clemson also figures into the sports radio market here.
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